The present invention relates to an improved method and means for the attachment of a false beam structure to a suspended ceiling.
Suspended ceilings have been well known in the art for a period of more than thirty years. In most newer construction, particularly, commercial construction, it is most common to employ a suspended ceiling such that various venting, heating, air conditioning, electrical, telephone, and other wiring and duct work, may be located between the suspended ceiling and the natural ceiling of the structure.
In the construction of suspended ceilings, the use of an inverted T-grid element has become common. The T-grid element is suspended from its vertical component from the natural ceiling of the building structure. The T-grid element, when inverted, also has horizontal components which are in the nature of longitudinal flanges, extending in a co-planar fashion and at right angles to the plane of the said vertical component of the T-grid element.
After a suitable matrix of said T-grid elements has been suspended from the natural ceiling, at an appropriate distance therefrom, a multiplicity of rectilinear panels are positioned on the flanges of the horizontal components of the T-grid elements. The result of this is the rather familiar grid-like pattern of ceiling panels that characterize essentially all suspended ceilings.
In order to enhance the esthetic appeal of such grid patterns of suspended ceilings, certain steps have been suggested. In the first instance, the outer or downward facing component of each inverted T-grid element may be colored to provide a suitable contrast or complement to the colors of the panels held between the T-grid elements. Also the prior art indicates that a broad variety of ornamental designs of the panels (which also serve an acoustical function) can be achieved.
The present invention may be viewed as an effort to enhance the aesthetic appeal and diversity of dropped ceilings by providing a means and method by which a false beam structure may be conveniently attached to the horizontal component of the T-grid elements of the suspended ceiling at a time after the suspended ceiling has been installed.
The prior art, as best known to the inventor, is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 776,344 (1904) to Nielson; No. 985,367 (1911) to Pitney; No. 3,387,872 (1968) to Lovullo; and No. 4,541,215 (1985) to Nickloy.
The above prior art, as well as other art, relates only to the generalized use of false beams in interior construction. Therein, the false or imitation ceiling beams is attached by means of a clip attachment to a natural beam within the ceiling. Neither the above nor any other prior art discloses a means or method for the attachment of a false or imitation beam structure to a suspended ceiling; rather, the prior art is limited in its attention to the construction of false or imitation beams which attach directly to the natural ceiling structure. The teachings of such prior art are not applicable to the inventive means and method disclosed herein, and the advantages derived therefrom.